His Favorite Story
by serenemelody
Summary: His childhood inhibitions lead him to rediscover the former joy of being with the things he loved. Her presence helped him relive it.


Setting: Hallow Bastion's Library

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Time Period: During Xion's absence in 'Days'

Characters: Riku and Xion (and some Sora)

~His Favorite Story~

He wasn't supposed to be doing this.

It had never really occurred to Riku that he would ever see this story again. Seeing the name embellished upon the book's spine in gold ink caused a smile to dance its way onto his face. He knew he should have been looking for more books for DiZ to read in order to further his research about hearts… But when he saw the grand selection located within Hallow Bastion's library it made him all the more curious to see if it held his beloved fairy tale in one of its massive bookcases.

Riku's hand reached out yearning to hold the book in his hands and flip through the pages with eager eyes. A feeling that he had not felt since he was a young child rushed through his veins as his hand inched nearer and nearer until…

He stopped. His innocent and childlike smile faded from his face as his fingertips brushed down the spine of the book. _What am I doing?_ He thought to himself. _I need to focus right now. Whatever it takes to wake him up sooner… Whatever it takes…_ His lips parted to let out a sigh that echoed throughout the empty library. His head hung low as he took a step away from the wooden bookcase. "I know it was your favorite story but we can read it once you've woken up."

"Read what?" A female's soft voice said.

Startled, Riku spun on his heels only to face a short, raven-haired girl dressed very similarly to him, with large blue eyes that, if caught in the light just right, looked like sapphires. He knew her, and referred to her as Xion. Riku opened his mouth as if to say something, but the words failed to escape his lips. Again he tried to find a way to phrase his words, but alas his voice failed to be heard.

Riku quickly picked up on how Xion noted his troubles, and her once cheerful and curious demeanor became a worried one. "What's wrong?" She asked as she took a concerned step forward towards him, her hands pulled in towards her mid-torso.

The silver-haired teen pushed away his hesitations and said what he had wanted to say in the first place. "Nothing's the matter." He said in an attempt to rid her of her concerns. "It was just that I was looking at this book." His hand made a light gesture towards the leather-bonded story as his childlike sentiments continued to linger in his mind.

"What is it called?"

"Robin Hood." He replied, his eyes yearning to look back at the golden ink scrawled on the leather spine. He wanted to read those meaningful words once again, to remind him of younger days.

"Robin Hood." He heard her repeat to herself with a quizzical look on her face. "Robin Hood." She said again. It was like she was a child trying out a new word for the very first time. She kept on repeating the title until she was content with the feel of it. "Robin Hood…" She paused, looked at her hands and a grin appeared on her face. Xion looked up at Riku, mischievously biting her lower lip. "Can you read it to me?" She asked like a little child.

The query caught him off guard. "Read it to you?" She nodded her head in response. "I can't Xion, I've got to do some research for D—" His sentence trailed off as Xion's face filled with disappointment.

"Oh," was the only word that escaped Xion's mouth after a few moments of silence, which felt like an eternity to Riku.

As he looked upon her features something reminded him of Sora. Maybe it was the way she pouted her lips, the way she furrowed her brow, or even the way she stood with a slightly hunched back and a broken neck. Pursing his lips, he shifted his gaze back and forth between Xion and the bookcase which held 'Robin Hood'. Riku turned around and made his way back to the bookcase. He extended out his hand once more towards the copy of the book, the excitement pulsing throughout his being. Nothing could stop him now as his hand clutched onto the leather spine, and from there, he pulled the fairy tale from its position nestled between two other books.

Riku watched through his peripherals, how Xion quickly made haste towards him and the copy of Robin Hood. He watched as she peered over his shoulder to see the front cover and then she moved over towards his side to get a better look. A large smile danced upon her features as if her face was the stage and her smile was the captivating performer.

As Riku blew the dust off from the book, he noted how Xion watched him with an arched eyebrow. He let out a laugh.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing." He replied as he opened the cover of the book. Riku cleared his throat once, looked at Xion, then at the words down on the page before him. It was like old times…. The 'Good 'Ol Days'. "Once Up—" Riku felt a pair of quick swift hands swipe the book from him. He knew Xion was the culprit. "Hey!" He chuckled. "I thought you wanted me to read it to you."

"Well, I changed my mind."

"What?"

"**I** want to read 'Robin Hood' to **you**." She smiled.

Surprised, the silver-haired teen cocked an eyebrow as Xion urged him to sit down in a nearby chair. "Please…" She pleaded. "For me?"

A slight smile crept onto his face as he couldn't refuse to do her bidding, especially when she had that familiar pout on her face. Riku made his way over towards the nearest chair and sat in it, growing thoroughly amused as Xion read the page before reading it aloud to get a sense for every word within it.

"Alright!" She said when she finished scanning the page. Finally, she began to read fantastic words to him. The words were like melodies pouring into Riku's ears as he sat there. He hadn't heard the 'song' in so long that he was afraid he would forget the words to 'sing along'.

As Riku sat there listening to Xion, he could feel Sora's smiling presence in the room beside him as if they were listening to his favorite story together once again.


End file.
